It is advantageous, in room air conditioners, to provide for a room air conditioner that is easily assembled, efficient and quiet during operation.
Typical prior art room air conditioners are assembled by building onto a base pan the component parts, i.e., compressor, motor, fan, blower, coil, bulkheads, and the like, one by one until the room air conditioner is completed. However, some room air conditioners have been constructed by assembling a number of modules linked structurally, functionally, and logically together into subunits, such subunits/modules then being placed together to form the completed or nearly completed room air conditioner.
Modular room air conditioners are not new. For example, Metcalf (U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,750) discloses a room air conditioner assembled from preassembled modular units. The modular units include a refrigeration system module having a compressor, condenser and an evaporator preassembled on a base. An air system module includes a fan, a motor, shrouds, and partitions preassembled as a unit. Electrical controls and a mounting panel are preassembled as yet another unit. The air system and control units are then attached onto the refrigeration system to produce a finished air conditioner unit.
Other patents disclosing modular room air conditioners include Hague (U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,503) and Perrone, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,568). However, none of the prior art room air conditioner units provide for a modular room air conditioner having a number of applicants' unique features, directed to a modular assembly while improving efficient, quiet operation. These features include a unique motor mount for isolating the motor from the main chassis components to allow for quiet operation; integral shroud bulkhead units allowing the air-handling assembly to be completely preassembled prior to attachment to the base pan; strategically designed base pan with embossments for added strength, to control condensate flow, and to facilitate assembly of the refrigeration module in the modular scheme and chassis extraction from the shell; an enclosed control compartment limiting consumer access to electrical wiring and components; and a blower housing design including a scroll for directing air and effectively insulating the conditioned space from heat transmission and noise transmission to the inside, as well as a unique, modular air vent assembly for toolless engagement with the bulkhead of the air handling assembly.
Other novel features of applicants' modular room air conditioner include an air foil or baffle in the air plenum to reduce eddying or swirling and promote a more uniform flow (and thus promote quiet operation) in the room air conditioner.
Applicants' novel features also include a pair of nylon guide blocks attached to an outer shell to help guide the chassis into the shell. Further, holes along the rear wall of the base pan accommodate tabs in the shell to help prevent the chassis from bouncing during shipping.
Applicants' assembled chassis slips into a shell or sleeve defined by exterior walls, and contains a novel shell-retaining security strap to prevent the chassis from slipping out of the shell during shipping and also to prevent the chassis being removed from the shell from the exterior thereof in an installation.
Applicants also provide a novel blower housing design for use in assembling a modular air-handling module.
Applicants' unique method of modular assembly and quiet and efficient features provides a minimum need for adjustment, a minimum number of steps in the assembly, and provides for the ease of using, in some areas, prepainted metal. This helps reduce the cost of materials, promotes quiet operation, provides for fully electronic controls or electromechanical controls, as well as all of the aforementioned advantages.